Bold Women, Bad Assets: Honour, Property and Techno-Promiscuities

2021 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-78
Author(s):  
Sara Shroff

In June 2016, Qandeel Baloch, a 26-year-old Pakistani social media star, was murdered. Her death sparked both public outrage and a policy debate around ‘honour killing’, digital rights and sex-positive sexuality across Pakistan and its diasporas. Qandeel challenged what constitutes a proper Pakistani woman, an authentic Baloch and a respectable digital citizen. As a national sex symbol, she failed at the gendered workings of respectable heterosexuality, and during her short lifetime she optimised this failure and public fetish as a technologically mediated social currency (clicks, hashtags, comments, likes, reposts) to build a transnational celebrity brand. I centre Qandeel Baloch’s life and afterlives to think through the economic entanglements of honour, racialised ethnicity, coloniality, sexual violence and social media at the intersections of globalised anti-Blackness and honourable brownness as a matter of global capital. Within these complex registers of coloniality, Qandeel’s life and brutal murder necessitate a rethinking of categories of racialised ethnicity (Baloch), sexual labour (racial capital) and social media (digitality) as vectors of value for capitalism and nationalism. By centring Qandeel, I define honour as a form of racialised property relations. This rereading of honour, as an economic metric of heteropatriarchy, shifts my lens of honour killing from a crime of culture to a crime of property. Women’s honour functions as a necrocapitalist technology that constructs female and feminine bodies as the debris of heterosexual empire through racialised, gendered and sexualised property relations. These relations and registers of honour get further complicated by social media currency and discussions around digital rights, privacy and freedom of expression. Honour is, therefore, the economic management of sexual morality produced through race, religion and imperialism.

Author(s):  
Fletcher Tom

This chapter discusses public diplomacy, particularly in the context of the digital age. Diplomats now have an increasingly public role to play in projecting their government’s message locally, not just by media appearances and newspaper articles, but by regular use of social media, blogging, Twitter, and evolving techniques. And though technological change has been largely beneficial, the chapter also points to the challenges that technology brings to the field. Diplomats will be part of the debate on our digital rights, tackling the toughest issues around trust and transparency, and helping to find the balance between freedom of expression and the rights of others. Governments will continue to lose their monopoly on information and influence. Secrets will become harder to justify and harder to keep. And in the midst these the role of diplomats is being transformed faster than at any point in history.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-41
Author(s):  
Donato VESE

Governments around the world are strictly regulating information on social media in the interests of addressing fake news. There is, however, a risk that the uncontrolled spread of information could increase the adverse effects of the COVID-19 health emergency through the influence of false and misleading news. Yet governments may well use health emergency regulation as a pretext for implementing draconian restrictions on the right to freedom of expression, as well as increasing social media censorship (ie chilling effects). This article seeks to challenge the stringent legislative and administrative measures governments have recently put in place in order to analyse their negative implications for the right to freedom of expression and to suggest different regulatory approaches in the context of public law. These controversial government policies are discussed in order to clarify why freedom of expression cannot be allowed to be jeopardised in the process of trying to manage fake news. Firstly, an analysis of the legal definition of fake news in academia is presented in order to establish the essential characteristics of the phenomenon (Section II). Secondly, the legislative and administrative measures implemented by governments at both international (Section III) and European Union (EU) levels (Section IV) are assessed, showing how they may undermine a core human right by curtailing freedom of expression. Then, starting from the premise of social media as a “watchdog” of democracy and moving on to the contention that fake news is a phenomenon of “mature” democracy, the article argues that public law already protects freedom of expression and ensures its effectiveness at the international and EU levels through some fundamental rules (Section V). There follows a discussion of the key regulatory approaches, and, as alternatives to government intervention, self-regulation and especially empowering users are proposed as strategies to effectively manage fake news by mitigating the risks of undue interference by regulators in the right to freedom of expression (Section VI). The article concludes by offering some remarks on the proposed solution and in particular by recommending the implementation of reliability ratings on social media platforms (Section VII).


INFORMASI ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-122
Author(s):  
Nkiru Comfort Ezeh ◽  
Augustine Godwin Mboso

The Social Media has emerged as a new platform for discourses. It has no doubt provided people with easier and faster accessibility to information and has become an outlet for them to share their views on socio-political issues. It has also been observed that negative and hate comments seem to dominate on social networks used for social and political communication. Anchored on Public Sphere Theory, focus group discussions were conducted with undergraduate youths in South-east Nigeria examined on the issue of President Mohammadu Buhari’s referring to Nigerian youths as lazy, while speaking at the Commonwealth Business Forum in Westminster on 18th April 2018. This article, therefore, explored the opinions advanced in the discourse based on the principles of freedom of expression and responsibility. The study suggests that while Twitter platform was more objective in the discussion of the issue of the day because it allows the use of filters to ensure that contents posted on the platform adhere strictly to rules and fair usage; Facebook and Whatsapp trailed with abuses and hate comments. The study recommended that owners of blogs and media houses who now post their contents on the social media should coordinate comments on such platforms and continue developing mechanisms that work to regulate the quality of posted content.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-332
Author(s):  
Ayesha Siddiqua

Purpose of the study: The purpose of the study is to examine the use of cyber hate by the Pakistan’s mainstream political parties. The issue of poll rigging in Pakistan’s General Elections 2013 is examined through discourse analysis of the related tweets. The study also aims at comprehending the extent to which cyber ethics were violated during the digital electoral campaigns. Methodology: Discourse Analysis of the tweets generated from the official Twitter handles of PTI and PMLN leaders was conducted to examine the use of cyber hate by the Pakistan’s mainstream political parties. Violation of cyber ethics was explored through the qualitative interviews of 8 purposively selected social media managers of PMLN, PPP, and PTI. Main Findings: The findings indicated that party leadership/politicians used the elements of cyber hate which included abusive language, provocation, and character assassination against their opponents during the digital electoral campaign in general and regarding the poll rigging issue of Pakistan’s General Elections 2013 in specific. Resultantly the tweets using strong adjectives and metaphors on the political opponents were more frequently re-tweeted and attracted more favorites. Applications of this study: The study can be helpful in various cross-disciplinary areas that focus on the examination of the usage and impact of social media and cyberspace as a medium for hate speech dissemination. The study can significantly contribute to areas related to cyber ethics, digital electoral campaigning, freedom of expression, and political opinion building. Novelty/Originality of this study: The study’s originality lies in its attempt to unfold the foundations of digital electoral campaigning in Pakistan and how cyberhate was used as a pivotal tool for advancing the political narratives in a fragile democratic society.


JURNAL BASIS ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Eunike Imanuela Soehendro ◽  
Ika Wuri Septiani ◽  
Zhafira Zhafarina ◽  
Jumanto Jumanto

Social media, which was originally used to communicate with other people via online, has begun to be used to exchange knowledge so that it makes it easy for many people to learn more flexibly and without boundaries. Indonesian people are more motivated to learn and practice English through social media, considering that the ability to speak English is a special value when applying to job. However, the main function of social media itself, namely the freedom of expression and opinion, is also an inhibiting factor in learning English. Lots of social media users seem to be less wise in their opinions, especially on grammar issues and do not hesitate to criticize grammatical errors in English posts. The term grammar-nazi is usually attached to these people who tend to correct the grammar. This is the main focus of researchers to conduct grammar-nazi analysis in the process of learning English among millennials in Indonesia which is carried out online. Our research process includes data collection through observation, open coding techniques, axial coding, selective coding, synthesis of results, drawing conclusions, and providing suggestions. Some opinions such as Lauren & Connie (2005) and Mohd Amin et al.  (2016) in their research provides an overview of the responses of users who showed a positive  with this phenomenon. Meanwhile, research by James E. Carroll (2016) and Sherman & Jaroslav (2014) shows a negative response disagreeing with this phenomenon. The results of this study are expected to be able to provide a sufficient account on grammar-nazi phenomenon in the process of learning English among millennials in Indonesia.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-225
Author(s):  
Nurul Istiani ◽  
Athoillah Islamy

This study aims to reveal the philosophical values of Islamic law in the three ethical codes of NetizMu Muhammadiyah. This research is a literature review. The type of Islamic legal research in this study is a philosophical normative Islamic law research with an Islamic legal philosophy approach. The primary data source of this research, namely the NetizMU Muhammadiyah code of ethics), and secondary data using various relevant scientific researches. The theory used is a systems philosophy approach in Islamic law initiated by Jasser Auda.. This study concludes that there are values ​​of Islamic law philosophy in the three NetizMU codes of ethics. First, the value of religious protection (hifz al-din) in the context of making the prophetic social values ​​of religion the main basis for the code of ethics for the use of social media. Second, the value of public benefit (al-maslahat al-ammah) in the code of ethics for the use of social media as a medium for humanization (amar makruf) and liberation (nahi munkar). Third, the value of intellectual protection (hifz al-'aql) in the context of a code of ethics limiting freedom of expression, both in the form of information and communication on social media.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 116-133
Author(s):  
Joe Burton

AbstractThis article explores how cyber-attacks affect freedom of expression. It begins by outlining the literature on cyber coercion and exploring other conceptions of how offensive cyber operations have been used to shape adversary behaviour, including efforts to intimidate through cyberspace, and the concept of ‘cyber swaggering’. The article moves on to explore how cyber-attacks have been used to undermine electoral process, to erode free and fair media reporting, and how manipulation of social media can constitute a ‘virtual infiltration’ and ‘virtual occupation’ of the information domain. The article then explores how cyber-attacks conducted during the conflict in Ukraine have limited or otherwise affected freedom of expression. I argue that the wider effects of cyber operations on political, civil and human rights have been underexplored in the cyber security literature; that cyber-attacks have adversely affected freedom of expression in the conflict in Ukraine and in other political disputes; and that the coercion concept is ill-suited to accounting for the socio-psychological impact of modern cyber operations.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Emma Jane Smith

<p>It is widely accepted that the right to a fair trial is one of the most important guarantees contained within our legal system. That right is undermined when a jury member conducts his or her own research into a case. This type of juror misconduct constitutes contempt of court. In the light of the fact that the law of contempt is currently the subject of review in a number of jurisdictions, this paper considers how the law of contempt could be adapted to better manage the risk of jurors undertaking independent research. After a discussion of the current law and some problems with it, particularly those created by modern communications technology, this paper considers a number of possible reform options. It makes two broad recommendations. First, that the law should focus relatively more on preventing jurors undertaking their own research than on limiting publication. Second, that independent research by jurors should be the subject of statutory criminalisation, and a range of measures should be adopted to increase jurors’ understanding of the importance of not going outside the evidence before them and to minimize any incentives for jurors to conduct their own research.</p>


Author(s):  
Howard Rheingold

Reprinted from legendary cyberspace pioneer Howard Rheingold's classic, The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier, “Daily Life in Cyberspace: How the Computerized Counterculture Built a New Kind of Place” situates the reader in the context of social media before the World Wide Web. Rheingold narrates how he became involved in The WELL community; details community and personalities on The WELL; and documents user experience with the WELL's conferencing system, including how conversations are created and organized and how social media compares to face to face dialog. Rheingold also explores social media-based dialog in terms of reciprocity; “elegantly presented knowledge”; the tradition of conversation in the Athenian agora; and the value of freedom of expression. Introduced by Judy Malloy.


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